LIVE from Charlotte: DNCC moves Thursday evening events to Time Warner Cable Arena

The fourth evening of the 2012 Democratic National Convention will take place at Time Warner Cable Arena instead of Bank of America Stadium as previously planned, convention organizers have just announced.

“We have been monitoring weather forecasts closely and several reports predict thunderstorms in the area, therefore we have decided to move Thursday’s proceedings to Time Warner Cable Arena to ensure the safety and security of our delegates and convention guests,” said DNCC CEO Steve Kerrigan.

“The energy and enthusiasm for our convention in Charlotte has been overwhelming and we share the disappointment of over 65,000 people who signed up for community credentials to be there with the President in person.”

“We encourage our community credential holders and Americans across the country to continue to come together with their friends and neighbors to watch and participate in history. The President will speak to these credential holders on a national conference call tomorrow afternoon, and we will work with the campaign to ensure that those unable to attend tomorrow’s event will be invited to see the President between now and Election Day.”

The move means that far fewer people will be able to watch President Obama’s nomination speech in person. Time Warner Cable Arena can only accommodation a maximum of 20,200 people (though its capacity for the DNC is less, since the building was reconfigured for the convention and not all seating is available). Bank of America Stadium’s capacity is more than three times that… 73,778.

Four years ago, President Obama accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination for president before a huge crowd at Invesco Field in Denver. The weather that day was excellent – it was sunny and warm out.

Unfortunately, there’s a strong possibility that there will be thunderstorms tomorrow in Charlotte, which could bring heavy rain and lightning.

NOAA’s National Weather Service has published the following forecast for tomorrow:

A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 9 AM. Patchy fog before 8 AM. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 88. Southwest wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

In addition, NOAA has issued the following hazardous weather outlook for today:

SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE REGION TODAY AND LINGER INTO THIS EVENING. THE PRIMARY THREAT FROM ANY THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. IF THUNDERSTORMS REPEATEDLY AFFECT THE SAME LOCATION… FLASH FLOODING OF STREAMS OR URBAN FLOODING OF POOR DRAINAGE AREAS COULD RESULT. CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING STRIKES WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE WITH ANY THUNDERSTORMS.

The DNCC evidently concluded that the risk of thunderstorms was too great to move forward with plans to hold Thursday evening’s events at Bank of America Stadium. They took a chance on the weather and it didn’t pay off.

Were Bank of America Stadium more like CenturyLink Field in Seattle, convention organizers might have opted to stick with the original plan and make contingency plans for rain. As many readers are no doubt aware, having been to many Seahawks and Sounders games, CenturyLink Field is partially shielded from the elements… the stands are covered. It was designed for Pacific Northwest weather.

But Bank of America Stadium has no roof at all. That means that when it rains, the only way to stay dry is to put on a poncho.

Convention organizers don’t have the ability to put a makeshift roof on Bank of America Stadium, so they’re moving Thursday evening to Time Warner Cable Arena. In doing so, they made a safe call.

No doubt a lot of people who waited patiently to obtain community credentials are feeling disappointed right about now. Can’t say that I blame them. But the Obama campaign has pledged to do its best to make it up to them.

The campaign has suggested that community credentials will be honored at a forthcoming event or set of events, possibly campaign rallies in Charlotte. And there’s the conference call on Thursday.

Passes to Time Warner Cable Arena are going to be a hot ticket tomorrow, without question. If the DNCC is smart, they’ll install a few extra screens so they can fill a few more seats that don’t have a view of the stage, and thereby allow more volunteers to at least be in the arena when President Obama accepts the nomination.

This entry was written by Andrew and posted on September 5th, 2012 at 8:18 AM. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.
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Not correct. As stated in the post, the reason for the venue change is weather, not a fear of not being able to fill seats. The DNCC distributed 65,000 community credentials for Bank of America Stadium and there are an additional 19,000 people on the waiting list.

Time Warner Cable Arena will be packed on Thursday night for the nomination acceptance speeches.

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Our city thrives because we have welcomed and embraced diversity. And RFRA threatens what thousands of people have spent decades building. Discrimination is wrong. And I hope that message is being heard loud and clear at our Statehouse.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: And so yes or no, if a florist in Indiana refuses to serve a gay couple at their wedding, is that legal now in Indiana?

MIKE PENCE: George, this is -- this is where this debate has gone, with -- with misinformation and frankly...

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: It's just a question, sir. Yes or no?

MIKE PENCE: Well -- well, this -- there's been shameless rhetoric about my state and about this law and about its intention all over the Internet. People are trying to make it about one particular issue. And now you're doing that, as well. The issue here -- The Religious Freedom Restoration Act has been on the books for more than 20 years. It does not apply, George, to disputes between individuals unless government action is involved. And in point of fact, in more than two decades, The Religious Freedom Restoration Act has never been used to undermine anti-discrimination laws in this country.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Sir, I'm...

(CROSSTALK)

MIKE PENCE: Look, the...

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: -- I'm just bringing up a...

MIKE PENCE: -- the question...

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: -- (INAUDIBLE) from one of your supporters.

MIKE PENCE: -- I think the real question here...

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: That was one of our supporters who was talking about the bill right there. It said it would protect a Christian florist who -- against any kind of punishment. Is that true or not?

Several major Wall Street banks are openly threatening to withhold campaign contributions from the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee (SDCC) and individual Democratic senators, hoping to stop senators from talking about breaking them up. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, their chief critic, is having none of it. She says she will not be intimidated and has no intention of letting the banks off the hook.

The measure codifies hatred under the smoke screen of freedom and jeopardizes all that has been recently accomplished,… It legalizes discrimination against LGBT individuals and will cause significant harm to many people.

Big congratulations are in order to tonight Gonzaga University’s men’s basketball team, which defeated UCLA 74-62 to reach the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament for just the second time in school history.

The Zags will take on the winner of the Utah-Duke game on Sunday for the chance to earn a Final Four berth, something the team has never done before.

If Gonzaga wins just two more games, it will be playing for the national championship on Monday, April 6th. That would be a pretty big deal.

Gonzaga has only lost two games this season. Its 2015 squad is considered among the best in school history and certainly has a decent shot at making the Final Four.

Top-seeded Duke, which is predicted to win over Utah, would be a tough opponent, but hardly an unbeatable one.

In defeating UCLA, the Zags avenged a painful loss inflicted by the Bruins in 2006, which cost the team an Elite Eight berth that year.

Other Elite Eight matchups include Wisconsin vs. Arizona and Kentucky vs. Notre Dame. Louisville will be taking on either Oklahoma or Michigan State.

However, ESPN’s Jay Williams, himself a Duke alum, has Gonzaga as one of his picks all the way through to the Final Four. He predicts a Top Two matchup between Arizona and Gonzaga, with Arizona winning. Williams’ bracket is outperforming Obama’s, Nadella’s, and the Bing Official bracket by a substantial margin.